Brennus read Emma’s message — ‘Hello’ sent with a cute smiley emoji.

“She was shaking under her tough facade.”

“Considering her situation, it’s normal,” Lady Death spoke in a not-so-sympathetic voice.

Brennus replied to Emma with a ‘See you tomorrow’ with a smiling emoji of his own and flipped his phone shut.

‘I’ll need to see more of her character before I try to hire her.’

To fight an organization like Hydra, he needed more than just personal strength. Information, power, connections — he’d get everything in this damned world. Be it by brute force or manipulation, he was going to crush Hydra.

“Aren’t you tempted to jump in bed with her?”

For a moment he was. He hadn’t seen a woman for over four years, much less touching one. A slim blonde like Emma topped his list of favorite women types. However, he trusted Lady Death’s claim about Emma’s potential. Rather than having a woman to warm his bed, he much preferred her as a trustworthy ally.

“Gentlemanly approach.”

‘Nope, it’s the rule of the cowards.’

“Coward, how can a man who isn’t afraid of death be called a coward?”

‘I don’t plan to die before twisting Hydra’s guts with my sword.’

Lady Death clicked her tongue. “You’re missing out on some sweet salvation, my friend.”

“Yeah, I’ve tasted it once,” Brennus remembered the first taste of warmth after what felt like eons. “...It wasn’t bad.”

Lady Death’s giddy laughter echoed in his ears. “That’s the spirit.”

Brennus dusted his shirt and got out of the classroom. He entered the library and grabbed a random book. Taking a seat, he skimmed through the book. His desired notice popped up minutes later.

[Daily Quest #1 completed.]

[+2 Intelligence and Wisdom.]

[1 x Mystery Box and 1 x Rank-F XP Potion sent to your Mystic Dimension.]

“Before you ask, the Mystic Dimension can be accessed with your thoughts. It's based on the game ‘inventory’ concept and crafted with my power.”

“I’ll try it in the dorms.”

On his way to the dorm, he sensed a glare filled with enmity. Anyone who went through multiple life and death scenarios could sense such things as if they had a sixth sense, much less Brennus, who had the ‘Super Sense’ trait.

The book slipped from his hand. He turned around and crouched. Instead of picking the book, his gaze wandered toward the students going about their business. With the glowing golden letters above their head, it was a child’s play to spot the culprit.

[Astrid Bloom (Lvl. 30 Mutant)]

[Main Skill: Telepathy]

The dark-skinned woman with black hair pushed up her sunglasses and moved back into the crowd, vanishing a moment later.

‘Why the hostility?’

Brennus pondered before shaking his head. If she meant harm, he’d eliminate her. Ironically, he attracted the attention of two telepaths in one day. Both stronger than him. He picked up the book and strode back to his dorm.

‘Are telepaths just people with mind-reading and stuff?’

He could kill a higher level telepath if their powers were limited to mind. Death’s Blessing made him immune to mental attacks.

“It’s not fun if I tell you everything. Why don't you find it yourself?”

“Fine.”

He won’t think of them as glass-cannons until proven otherwise.

In his room, he sat on the bed and his mind straight jumped to the thought of Mystic Dimension. Rows of tiles appeared before him, with the first one containing a vial filled with transparent liquid and the second containing a cube with a question mark on each side. He tapped the potion and then pressed the ‘withdraw’ button under it.

Black air swirled before him and created the XP Potion. It just floated there as if giving middle fingers to gravity.

“Unless you touch it, the bottle will remain in a dimension of its own. Only you’ll be able to see it in that state.”

He grabbed the bottle, turning it into normal.

“It’s a neat trick.”

[XP Potion (Consumable)]

[Rank: F]

[Instantly increases your XP by 1000.]

He twisted the cap and gulped down the entire thing in one go. The bittersweet watery fluid had a unique taste of its own, and cold energy enveloped him.

[+1000 XP]

[Level up!]

[5 Stat Points received!]

Lady Death’s creepy laughter made him second guess the origin of this potion.

“The fuck did I just drink?”

“Don’t worry. It’s not someone’s piss or anything.”

“That’s not helping, at all!”

Lady Death dodged with a chuckle. Brennus sighed and tapped the Mystery Box. It had an 'open now' option under it.

“What’s the odds of getting a god-tier item here?”

“Honestly, zero,” Lady Death crushed his hopes. “Mystery Box from a daily quest won’t ever have game-changing items.”

“Then fucking rename it to Low-class Mystery Box or something.”

“There won’t be any mystery that way.”

Brennus prayed to the god in charge of atheists like him and opened the Mystery Box. The damned box spun for what felt like an hour and spat out three items. An XP Potion, some kind of black bracelet, and a book.

[1 X Rank-F XP Potion, 1 X Unholy Vengeance, 1 X Random Skillbook added to the Mystic Dimension.]

“Unholy Vengeance, that’s edge right there.”

“Reap the rewards of having high Luck stats.”

“So my luck affects the draws from Mystery Box. Good to know.”

He gulped down the potion, and his XP rose from 0 to 95%. He took out the bracelet.

[Unholy Vengeance]

[Item Rank: E]

[A bracelet affected by the host of Spirit of Vengeance. A strong curse and magical power dwell within it.]

[When equipped: Strength +5, Intelligence: +10]

Spirit of Vengeance… His first time hearing this Spirit. The curse stuff reminded Brennus of the other side of his race.

“Say, would I fall if I wear this?”

“No. You won’t fall without a strong connection with one of the seven sins. Haven’t you noticed that the Envious Demon trait hasn’t shown any effect?”

Brennus nodded his head.

“Your Divine Essence is keeping it in check… for the meantime. The other way to fall is to go batshit crazy and massacre half a million people.”

“How am I supposed to do that?”

He could drop a nuclear bomb. But in a world of superheroes, or better called ‘The delusional fools’, his plan likely won’t succeed. He was indifferent to death but wasn’t a fool to jump in a shark’s mouth just for the sake of it.

“It’s for you to figure out.”

Brennus put the bracelet on his right hand and pulled out the Skillbook. Just as it appeared in his hands, it vanished into specks of white.

[Skill acquired: Telepathy.]

[Telepathy Lvl. 1 (Active): Creates a link with someone to broadcast your thoughts and receive theirs through the Astral Plane. The maximum range is 30 meters.]

“Jackpot!”

Now the only thing left was using the 5 Stat Points he got from the leveling up. He had six attributes and five points.

“You can’t increase luck through these points.”

“Fuck.”

“Luck isn’t a stat I can toy around with. It dictates your future as a whole. If I meddle too much, ‘They’ will shut me up.”

‘They’ obviously referred to someone higher than her in the hierarchy. Brennus pondered for a few minutes and came to a conclusion.

‘Soul Power and stamina is the most important part. I don’t wanna run out of gas in a fight.’

He dumped all his stat points in Wisdom.

***

Name: Brennus

Level: 2 (95.00% to next level)

HP: 300/300

SP: 345/345

Current Race: Newborn Angel

Class: None

Title: None

Traits: Barbarian, Scholar, Cosmic Dweller, Aphrodite’s Child, Super Sense, Master Swordsman, Master Smith.

Strength: 30 (+5 From Unholy Vengeance)

Vitality: 30

Dexterity: 25

Intelligence: 37 (+10 From Unholy Vengeance)

Wisdom: 32

Luck: 25

Stat Points: 0

Skills:

[Death’s Blessing Lvl. Max (Passive)]

[Beyond Death Lvl. Max (Passive)]

[Mystic Wings (Active) Lvl. 1]

[Divine Essence Manipulation Lvl. 1 (Active)]

[Ignore Lvl. 1 (Passive)]

[Telepathy Lvl. 1 (Active)]

Current Quests:

[An Eye for an Eye, a Soul for a Soul]

[The Real Angel of Death]

Current Equipment:

[Unholy Vengeance (E)]